Futures Lower on Global Slowdown Fears
NEW YORK (
) -- Stock futures were pointing to a loweropen Tuesday as continuing
weakness in Asia prompted global slowdown fears ahead of abevy of economic reports in the U.S.
Futures for the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
were down by15 points at 9,964 and were 34.73 points below fair value. Futures forthe
S&P 500
were lower by 2 points at 1043.1 and were 4.67points below fair value, while
Nasdaq
futures were down by 9.25points and were 10.27 points below fair value.
The Dow dropped 141 points Monday after sluggish consumerspending figures dragged down investor sentiment and brought economicrecovery doubts back to the fore.
Though under pressure all morning, futures did trim some of their losses after the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index for June showed prices rose 4.2% since last year. Wall Street was looking for a year-over-year increase of 3.1%, according to Briefing.com. In May, home prices tracked up 4.6% from a year earlier.
But a rush of macroeconomic data will continue throughout themorning. At 9:45 a.m., the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index is expectedto show a slowdown in manufacturing activity in the Midwest. TheAugust index is projected to register a 57, down from a 62.3 readingin July.
Soon after at 10 a.m., the Conference Board is scheduled tounveil its August read on consumer confidence. The measure, whichregistered a 50.4 last month, is expected to edge just lower to read50 this month.
The
TheStreet Recommends
Federal Reserve
will also release minutes from the mostrecent meeting of its policy-making arm. The August confab of the
Federal Open Market Committee
ended with policymakers leavingthe key fed funds rate unchanged at near zero. But with economicindicators waning on several fronts, the market will be sifting formore details behind the group's decision to reinvest proceeds fromagency debt and mortgage-backed securities into long-term Treasuries.The minutes will be released at 2 p.m.
According to a survey of analysts and investors, it's believed
Dell
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will drop out of the bidding war toacquire
3Par
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,
Reuters
said.
Hewlett-Packard
ratcheted up its bid to $30 a sharelast week, giving Dell until Wednesday to reply.
HSBC (SNY) - Get Sanofi Report
said in a statement that its $3.56billion sale of its auto finance units in the U.S. to
BancoSantander
(STD)
was completed.
Saks
(SKS)
shares were surging higher in premarketafter the U.K.'s
Daily Mail
said a private-equity buyout couldbe in the works for the retailer.
Though the earnings slate will be light Tuesday, a few retailers reported in the morning.
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said it lifted its full-year outlook and topped bottomed line estimates, reporting earnings of 42 cents a share.
DSW
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, the shoe retailer, also topped forecasts, saying its earnings improved to 52 cents a share in the second quarter from 17 cents a share at the same time last year, helped by widening gross margins.
In commodity markets, crude oil for October delivery was losing$1.06, to trade at $73.64 a barrel, and the December gold contract wasimproving $5.70 to trade at $1,244.90 an ounce.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up by 14/32, diluting theyield to 2.481%.
Meanwhile, the dollar was trading lower against a basket ofcurrencies, with the dollar index down by nearly 0.3%.
Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1% lower, while Japan'sNikkei retreated 3.6%. The FTSE in London was dropping 1% and theDAX in Frankfurt was sliding 0.9%.
--Written by Sung Moss in New York
.
